


escape from the city and follow the sun

by Kandakicksass



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Coming Out, M/M, Unrealistic video hopes, my daydream of a video for Ready To Run
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-07
Updated: 2014-11-07
Packaged: 2018-02-24 10:16:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2577917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kandakicksass/pseuds/Kandakicksass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The video for Ready to Run is... unexpected. </p><p>(Or, the rest of the world could have gone up in flames for all she knew, because <em>did that just happen</em>?)</p>
            </blockquote>





	escape from the city and follow the sun

**Author's Note:**

> "She" is a nameless One Direction fan.  
> She could also be me, who the hell knows. Just roll with it and forgive me because I could not stop myself.

She’s in the middle of playing BrickBreaker on her phone when it chimes in her hand, startling her into jumping. Her computer chair creaks when she sits up properly, but that’s probably because of how fast she does it, eyes huge.

 _“Harry Styles: Video’s out now! Which one? Who knows. Xx_ ”

But she _does_ know, and she pulls up OneDirection VEVO faster than she thought her internet would let her. There it is, the video for Ready to Run, after weeks of waiting and snapshots from filming (a surprising few, actually, but she wouldn’t analyze). Her heart is pounding, which is ridiculous, but she’s so invested in these boys that it’s really not a surprise.

The opening music starts, and then lags for a minute, and she hits the pause button maybe a little too viciously for the occasion, but she’s practically vibrating it and waiting for it to buffer is too much. She plays it again.

“ _There’s a lightning in your eyes I can’t deny_ ,” the grinning boy on the screen begins, and without realizing it a soft _yes_ slips from her mouth, because he looks _good_. His skin is glowing and his hair is loose and curly, and most of all, he just looks happy.

The camera pans from Harry over to the other boys, who are all grinning over at him. It’s set up a lot like the video for Story of My Life – huge room, but this one is filled with random objects – guitars, flowery arches, ballet mirrors against the back wall. When the camera gets to Louis, she notices how lovely he looks, smiling down at the ground. She’s slightly disappointed that he’s not watching Harry, but beggars can’t be choosers, and that’d be too obvious.

They’re all standing in a line in one of many streams of sunlight, with Liam next to Harry so it naturally progresses to his verse with no problem. She’s waiting for something big – considering Steal My Girl, it’s not irrational – but for now, there’s just standing and singing and smiling.

Then she notices Niall’s feet tapping impatiently, and she grins, sitting up straighter and leaning in.

They hit the chorus, all of them coming in on ‘ _this time I’m ready to run_ ,’ and suddenly they’re moving, Harry, Niall, and Louis backing up and stepping over, Liam and Zayn just stepping to the opposite side so they switch spots. She’s going to be honest, a straight-up dance number had not been what she was expecting, but, well, then they all take off, crossing each other to take individual spots in the large space –

She stares in shock. She hadn’t imagined that – _couldn’t_ have imagined Louis crossing by Harry, not even looking at him. She has to pause and replay it just to go back and watch how they extend their arms, Louis’s right hand starting at Harry’s left shoulder and vice versa, hands sliding down to brush palm to palm as they pass each other.

None of the other boys had touched like that, and she feels like she’s going to burst from everything she’s suddenly feeling.

Still, she holds it together, but making a big deal about something without other people there is kind of exhausting. She watches, how, on ‘cause you wanna be mine,’ Zayn laughs silently and does a cartwheel. He lands on his ass, though admittedly does the actual cartwheel just fine, and Niall jogs over to help him up as they grin. Liam, when they pan back over to him, nearing the end of the chorus, is playing a guitar with too much gusto for the part of the song, and he too is laughing, sending silly faces to Harry, who’s shaking and beaming, looking for all the world the very sun in the sky.

At Niall’s verse, there’s about three seconds of him tackling a snickering Zayn and singing over-enthusiastically with a maniacal grin aimed at the camera. Then, it goes to Harry as he attempts to do a cartwheel himself. It’s really more of a round off, and he lands on his ass with more force than Zayn did. It’s a pathetic attempt, but he looks to painfully happy that she focuses on his face and doesn’t notice Louis slide into the frame until he’s already kneeling down and singing his verse into his face, heaving Harry to his feet when he finishes the line ‘ _we’ll be alright_.’

Then, the camera is off of them again, focusing the next chorus on the other boys until Zayn’s little descant (praise Jesus for Zayn and his _voice_ , dear lord), where everything calms.

She can’t believe what she’s seeing, but in the midst of Zayn getting a piggyback ride from Niall and Liam laughing at them, there’s Louis and Harry miming a slow dance. Their bodies are too close to be a joke and the way Louis grins at Harry is nauseating and perfect and kind of heart wrenching.

Instead of quickly panning away the way the camera tended to whenever it caught “Larry Stylinson” moments on film, it stays for several moments, focusing on them as they dance. Halfway through the next chorus, Harry twirls Louis and pulls him back in, picking up the pace of their dance with some silly little jig that Louis laughs at and tries valiantly to imitate.

It cuts to the other boys for a moment, and when the camera comes back to them, Liam has joined them in some strange three-way kick step, and they all give up on dancing to laugh and shove each other playfully, Niall barreling into the frame with an alarmed looking Zayn, who slides off Niall’s back and onto the ground a moment later. Niall attacks him again as they near the end, but Louis joins in and shortly after Liam and Harry are both kneeling beside them, cackling at a clearly complaining Zayn who can’t keep the smile off of his face.

Just before the end, Louis opens his mouth wide in some kind of yell and launches himself at Harry, sending them sprawling against the floor.

She feels a bit numb, getting number when, just before the video ends, Louis presses a kiss to the corner and pulls off of him to collapse next to him, hands entertwined. The ending shot is of Louis and Harry on the floor next to Niall and Zayn roughhousing like boys, Liam grinning at his friends.

She doesn’t move for a moment, then –

_“DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?!”_


End file.
